Half Life: Black Mesa
by Master of Water
Summary: The events known to us at Black Mesa are pretty well known. But what happens when we push the border between fact and fiction? A NaNoWriMo 2006 story.
1. Day on the Job

I do not own Half-Life, or the rights to the modification featured "Azure Sheep". Half Life is copyrighted by VALVe, Opposing Force and Blue Shift copyrighted VALVe and Gearbox, and Azure Sheep is semi-copyrighted by the guys over at halflife.multiplayer.it/azuresheep.

This story, in itself, has proved so far and is still proving to be a difficulty. I have tried to collate the references provided to fit each storyline around each other. I have not added one other thing believed to by canonical – Half-Life: Decay. This is because I do not own a PS2 and therefore can not see what it is like, until Decay is released for PC. (I know there's some people working on it somewhere.) I've also had to change the name of the main character from AS, because "Just Barney" would have conflicted with "Barney Calhoun" from Blue Shift. (I don't think the AS developers actually played Blue Shift, for a number of reasons.)

I have also added my own part to it, labelled "Transit". This storyline explores some of the personnel who kept the Black Mesa system running until the end. I may or may not get a team together to make a mod out of this, especially for reasons to do with render speeds.

At the end of each chapter, look out for my comments on writing the chapter. These provide an insight into what it was like writing these and correcting them afterwards. Please bear in mind that these chapters are subject to revision at any point. I hope you enjoy the story, and please review!

Note: If you disagree with the rating, or find any spelling mistakes I've missed (needs a lot to work with, Black Mesa, lotta unknown words) please note it in a review. And please, again, bear in mind that this is probably not the final version of this chapter. I've got a lot to do.

**HALF-LIFE: BLACK MESA**

**CHAPTER ONE**

**DAY ON THE JOB**

"Hello, and welcome to the Black Mesa Research Facility. The Facility is responsible for the most important research of the United States. I hope, after reading this, you will join us among the ranks of either the Security or the Science personnel.

The BMRF is composed of 7 lettered areas, and 10 numbered areas. This is so it does not get confusing. It is much easier to refer to, say, Sector 'Whatever' instead of 'The Security Station' because there are many security stations in the depths of Black Mesa, and nobody would know which one was being talked about. I'll just give you a rundown of the Sectors and Areas.

AREA 1 is the main Facility Entrance. There are other entrances, but this one was the first, and there is a Security Station and the North Personnel entrance.

AREA 2 contains Sattelite Operations and the access point to the Subsurface Electrical Network.

AREA 3 is comprised of some laboratories, a Security Station, and the Transit System access from the Area 3 Topside Dormitories.

AREA 4 is the Black Mesa Central Complex. While not being exactly at the centre of the complex, this is where the Administrator has his office, and some other offices.

AREA 5 is basically two security stations and their facilities. One of them is just a check in area, the other is a checkpoint for a high security area which I am not disclosed to tell you.

AREA 6 is more topside dormitories.

AREA 7 is the Black Mesa Employee Recreation Facilty. This is where employees of Black Mesa can relax and chat about things that have been happening. It also has some deep-level areas.

AREA 8 contains more topside dormitories, and more sattelite operations.

AREA 9 is the Transit Hub, where Transit Cars can interchange between the Sector B, C and E lines.

AREA 10 is the outside areas, those not within the Mesa, and the old, abandoned Black Mesa Complex situated below the current one.

SECTOR A is the Training Facility Complex. We have three such facilties, one to train Security Guards, one to train scientists in the use of another thing that is classified, and one where races occur, to see who is the fittest of the personnel.

SECTOR B is the Coolant Storage Facility. Here we store industrial coolant for the BMRF's thousands of computers and machines.

SECTOR C is the Anomalous Materials Test Labs and Control Facilities. We run analyses on rock samples to see if they are harmful here. The rest I cannot disclose.

SECTOR D contains the Administration Complex and the recreational areas pertaining to the Administration Personnel.

SECTOR E contains the Biodome Complex, Transit Control and Track Control. The BC is where animals are studied, to learn more about them, the Transit Control where all trains are monitored and maintenance crews dispatched from, and the Track Control the link between new Black Mesa and the Old Black Mesa Transit System.

SECTOR F contains high security facilities, known only as the Gamma Complex and the Lambda Complex.

SECTOR G, possibly located at the deepest point at the Facility, the canal system is the main transport system for waste processing that is soon shipped off to the Waste Processing Plant. The canal system features a wide range of ventilation ducts, canals, and waste processing facilities, and runs off from the Freight Warehouse on the surface.

I hope that wasn't very confusing. If you are confused, but you are interested, you can learn more in the Employee Recruitment Office in Area 1. Anyone can apply for a job – The BMRF is an equal opportunities employer."

Jason studied the letter intently. It was missing something...

He tagged a few words onto the end.

"Jason Bassant, Security Guard at the Black Mesa Research Facility."

He rubbed his eyes and glanced at the time. 8:27 AM. He'd been typing, retyping and eventually restarting this goddamn letter for three hours. He sent it off to Administration, closed the laptop down and closed his eyes to rest. It was going to be another routine day, he promised himself. Nothing will go wrong. Then maybe I'll get that promotion and get to see Kate sometime OUT of days off and lunch breaks.

Kate Jones was another security guard, one that worked in Area 10. Jason had his post in Area 3. It was not unusual for personnel to fall in love over the course of their duty, but they had to make sure that it didn't get in the way of actually doing their job.

Jason opened his eyes and checked the time again. It was only 8:31. Most people would already be hard at work inside the depths of the Facility. He, however didn't start his shift until 8:45. It was good to be a Topside Security guard. Other people did the work through the night, giving the Topsiders, as they were known, plenty of sleep.

Deciding to start early for a change, he got up, carefully edging along between his bed and his roommate's, which was still occupied. Douglas Young always was a heavy sleeper. Shaking his head, Jason put his body armor on, then his helmet. His pistol, safety on, went into its holster by his side, should he ever need it. He had had no need of it so far, apart from inside the Hazard Course, but that was routine. He closed his eyes again. Routine. The whole job was routine. He looked at Douglas again, then he silently walked out the door and closed it behind him.

He felt as if he could make his way outside with his eyes closed, he had done it so many times. Left out of the room, few steps down the corridor, turn right, up the steps... he avoided the loose step that had gotten him every day of the week so far, and walked down the hall and down the staircase to the booth outside where he was stationed. He opened the door, nodded at his coworkers Damian Blackwell and Jenny Cook, and sat down at his desk, staring at each of the readings on the monitors until his eyes hurt.

This train of thought (which was seeming to be headed for the edge of the mesa) was interrupted by an impatient honk at the gate. It was a posh looking sports car. He checked the monitor showing the driver's face, then cross-referenced it with the employee database.

"Yup, he's right here," Jason pointed out to the guard on duty at the gate. "Gordon Freeman, due in Sector C Test Lab 33/A five minutes ago."

The guard on duty chuckled, then raised the gate. The scientist at the wheel drove forward to the barrier, fumbled for an ID, then finally found it and held it up. That confirmed the identity. Gordon Freeman. The gate was lowered, then the barrier raised. Gordon drove forward with such a screech of tires on the first bend towards the parking lot that everyone on duty had to cover their ears.

"What the hell was that for?" asked Damian of noone in particular.

Jason checked his watch. "He's running late for an experiment in Sector C... a very important one, judging by his hurry."

"When's he due in there?"

Jason smirked. "About seven minutes ago."

-----------------------------------------------

Well, there's gotta be a beginning somewhere. Most of the information that Jason gives us in the letter at the beginning was extracted from Wikipedia's entries on the Black Mesa Research Facility, and the rest I have gleaned from in-game and molded around the basic model we already have. If you have played Azure Sheep, you will have noticed that I have changed the heading from "Work work work" to "Day on the Job". Some of the headings inevitably carried mistakes, and I didn't want them to focus around Kate all the time. But, to keep some of the true AS alive, the last three chapters in its saga stay the same.

NEXT CHAPTER: LIVING QUARTERS OUTBOUND


	2. Living Quarters Outbound

For disclaimer see Chapter 1.

**CHAPTER TWO**

**LIVING QUARTERS OUTBOUND**

Barney Calhoun woke up. For a moment he stared at a foggy green mist, which quickly turned into the plaster ceiling of his dormitory. He rolled his head to the side. 8:30. He needed to get up. He was due to report into Area 3 Security. That meant riding the express train in, this time. Had he got up earlier, say, fifteen minutes ago, he would have been able to get the regular, stopping train. It was likely in Sector G by now.

He got up and rubbed his head. He couldn't remember what he had been doing last night. He just hoped he wasn't out boozing. He checked the calendar. No, that's tomorrow. That couldn't be it. He searched into his mind. Eventually he found what he had been doing: the dreaded night shift. And he had got, what? A couple hours of sleep?

Tugging on his clothes (he wasn't a topsider, he didn't work topside therefore he didn't need armor above ground) he made his way out to the tram station, for the Area 8 topside dormitories. He turned around and studied the realtime information board. According to that, and if his watch was right – he checked it against the board – the train should be here. He peered up the line. Nothing. Not even a glint of metal.

Barney sat down on the bench, and sighed. Another express late. Sometimes he wondered how people kept to schedule. It was Transit's motto: "A train at every platform." It hardly seemed apt now, seeing how late it was, now five minutes late at 8:40 and there was nothing in sight.

At this time on any other day he'd be chatting to fellow security guard Reg Simmons. But an accident had occurred a few days prior; his 9mm pistol had misfired in its holster, putting a bullet straight through his foot, while he was on duty. He was in the infirmary in Sector E. Another sigh.

And a loud horn. A glance up the track revealed the express train bearing down on the platform. It honked again and slowed to a halt in front of Barney. The door hissed, then something went 'crunch' and the door buried itself in its housing. Barney looked at it. He then boarded the train, and whacked it. Twice. Nothing happened.

Upon the third whack, he was jerked backwards as the train started up again. A hissing came from the train announcement system, then the familiar voice of Linda Pritchard from Transit Control.

"Hello, and welcome to the Black Mesa Research Facility. The time is 8: 42 AM. Current topside temperature is-91-degrees."

Then the pre-recorded announcement vanished with a pop, and was replaced by the realtime voice of Linda.

"Sorry about the door, Calhoun, but we just don't have time to send out a repair crew for it. Things are going wrong all over the Facility this morning. I would just advise that you stand away from the door."

At this point, the train reached the East Personnel entrance, jerked to a halt and nearly threw Barney out said door. He moved quickly to the back of the train, grabbed onto a pole, and held on tight. To the security camera in the roof of the car, he said, "Too late, Pritchard. How did you know I was on this train anyway? You don't normally take such a short time to check the monitors."

"Calhoun, you get the same train every day. If you _weren't_ on the train I would have someone out looking for you," was the witty reply. The train settled onto the overhead rails in the tunnel at the bottom of the train lift, and started forward again.

"Oh, ha ha, very funny," replied Barney, watching a scientist encourage another security guard to try and win an arcade game in a launderette. The train passed another corner to one of the many 'airlocks' (as they were dubbed by the personnel) which opened as the train approached. The train proceeded through it, waited until the 'airlock' was closed again, and started off again.

Around another corner was a cafeteria, with scientists discussing something about a 'new sample', and others eating their breakfast. It seemed impossible to Barney how they managed to get in so early. It would be, well, was impossible for him. Around another corner – he wondered how many there were in the Transit System – the train stopped as a bridge unfolded in front of him. A scientist walked across, glanced at him, then retracted the bridge. The train started off again, passing a laboratory, then around another corner. The Area 9 Transit Hub appeared in front of him.

Pulling up to the platform, Barney heard the end of a conversation between the guard at the desk and the guard that was meant to be on duty at the platform.

"Hell if I know," commented the platform guard, making his way over. "With friends like _you._ Man." He turned to Barney. "Hey, Calhoun!"

"Mornin'..." sighed Barney, stating his destination. The platform guard waved to his buddy in the control booth. He started tapping a few buttons.

"Looks like we're in for a long day today," mentioned the platform guard as the massive slab of metal stopping things from falling all the way to the Sector C line slid open with a rumble. Barney nodded. There wasn't much else to say.

"Have a good one, Calhoun!"

With another jerk (the third of the day) the train descended into the tunnel below. There were a few moments of darkness, a brief moment of light as the train passed the Sector E line. Then a flickering light as the train jolted onto the Sector C line. Turning around, Barney saw another Transit train. Oh well. If he had to be late, he could hold some other poor bastard up as well.

As his train passed under the flickering light fitting, it burst, sending glass all over his train's roof. He flinched. Things weren't right today.

Passing the platform for the Area 3 Topside Dormitories, he saw a figure running through the observation area. Barney hated people running through passages. They were all too prone to tripping over something and making the irritable, or if they were already, even more so. But he ignored it. The second train stopped at the platform, as his train slowed down for the Area 3 Security platform.

Somewhere else entirely, a figure opened his laptop and pulled up a file.

_SUBJECT_

_B.Calhoun_

_EDUCATION_

_2 years Martinson College Undecided Major_

_EMPLOYER_

_Black Mesa Research Facility_

_POSITION_

_Security Officer_

_ASSIGNMENT_

_Area 3 Security_

_CLEARANCE_

_Level 3_

_DISASTER RESPONSE PRIORITY_

_Preservation of facility equipment and materials_

_SECONDARY PRIORITY_

_Welfare of Research Personnel_

_LOW PRIORITY_

_Personal Safety_

* * *

Ah, now we're back in familiar territory. I know I missed part of the announcement out at the beginning, concerning the fact that the System is there for visitors and employees, but had I left it in the temperature/time would have been later than the top of the East Personnel entrance. I also skipped the rest, due to some things I have considered as being uncanonical, including the fact that at the Area 9 security checkpoint you can change to the Sector B or C lines. In what I've managed to put together, Barney's riding on the Sector B already.

NEXT CHAPTER: BLACK MESA INBOUND


	3. Black Mesa Inbound

Distorted Mirrors – I understand about the chapter sounding drab. The first part is mainly to introduce people not familiar with the Half Life Storyline or Black Mesa to them, and there wasn't much going on in the level after that. The actual Azure Sheep level continued after the disaster, but obviously I can't slide that in.

James Besten – Yeah, Gordon and Adrian'll have dialogue. Where would the story go _without _them speaking? I'm obviously not going to have one of them going up to a scientist/grunt and say "Character pressed E", am I:D

**CHAPTER THREE**

**BLACK MESA INBOUND**

Gordan Freeman was having a bad day. First of all, he'd been hung over because of the drinks he'd had last night with some friends celebrating the success of an experiment. Next, his alarm hadn't gone off. Now, he was driving recklessly down the parking lot access ramp with only one thought on his mind: He was late. As he reached the parking lot, a new thought entered it. Park.

He swerved around a corner, nearly smashing into Sergeant Guthrie's SUV, and did a quick reverse park. He started lowering the door to the bay before he had managed to untangle himself from the car, so he stopped it with just enough room to roll underneath. Finally, he got himself free, but his tie was now tangled with a wire connecting to the speaker system. He decided to leave it, rolled underneath the door and ran for the passage to the Transit System.

Around the next corner, he slid his ID card through the reader at the security checkpoint. A guard glanced up but ignored him. Gordon raced through the checkpoint, around a few corners, until he got to the passage overlooking the Transit System platform. A train had just passed it. Great. Still, he continued running, down the steps and through the double doors. Another train pulled up. Door opened. He jumped in and the door closed. The train didn't move.

Ahead of him, in the distance, he could see another train stopped at Area 3 Security. A security guard was disembarking. _Oh, hurry up hurry up hurry up..._ thought Gordon, his mind racing to what would happen if he turned up late. Perhaps he'd be fired. Perhaps they'd get someone else to do it. Whatever it was, he _wanted _to do that experiment. Maybe it was the prospect of a new sample, but all it was to do was analyse a rock. A crystal. It was routine.

Gordon _liked _routine.

The train started off with a jerk. He fell over backwards, rubbed his head, and got back up again. The recorded voice started coming out of the speaker. He listened to it every day. He'd been told the name of the woman who recorded it, but he couldn't remember it. He wasn't very good with names.

"Good morning, and welcome to the Black Mesa Transit System. This automated train is provided for the security and convenience of the Black Mesa Research Facility personnel."

The train passed Area 3 Security, where the guard that had been getting off the train that was holding him up. He wasn't wearing any armor, and he was fumbling for an ID card. The guard turned to look at Gordon. He must have seen that Gordon wasn't wearing a tie, because the guard made a motion of doing a tie up. Gordon simply made motions of putting a helmet on. The guard scowled and turned his attention back to finding his ID card as Gordon disappeared around the corner.

"The time is 8:47 AM."

Gordon started panicking. He was now 17 minutes late. The train entered a large chamber, part of Sector D. On the platform he was now passing, a maintenance guy was patching up a hole in the platform grating. Apparently he was amusing the rat that was sitting there watching him. Rats. They didn't turn up often, which was thankful. There must have been somewhere where they could hide away from everyone.

Below him, on... what was it? The Sector G Line? Or was it Sector D? The Facility was too big to comprehend in one go. A train passed on that line, driving straight past the waiting science personnel. An announcement above the recorded train one announced (as it was wont to do) that there was a radiation leak near Sector C.

"Current topside temperature is 93 degrees, with an estimated high of 105. The Black Mesa Compound is maintained at a pleasant 68 degrees at all times."

The train left the large chamber and turned a right turn into another tunnel.

"This train is inbound from Area 3 dormitories to Sector C Test Labs and Control Facilities."

Gordon breathed a sigh of relief. At least it would stop at his station. He didn't want to have to ride all the way to the Sector A line at the South Personnel entrance, then catch a train back.

His train entered a kind of warehouse, where some electrical equipment was being used on his left. A crane moved a crate across the path of his train, and when it was cleared, the train moved on.

"If your destination is a High Security area, beyond Sector C..."

Gordon snorted. This announcement must be old. From when what is now the Sector A line was part of the Sector C, and the Sector C line went all the way to the mysterious Gamma Complex on the other side of the Facility. Now to get there from Sector C one would have to change at Area 10 onto the Sector A, then at Transit Junction to the Sector D.

"...you will have to return to the Central Transit Hub in Area 9, and board a high-security train."

Gordon's train now entered another warehouse, this time housing a rocket. It was on a long flatbed transit car on the other side of the expanse of empty floor. A guy in a forklift drove below him.

"If you have not yet submitted your identity to the retinal clearance system, you must report to Black Mesa personnel for processing, before you will be permitted into the high-security branch of the Transit System."

The train turned right at the end of the warehouse, and proceeded into a dark corner. A rumbling announced the openining of a hole below the train. Train and rail descended, not into darkness, but into light. This part of the Transit System was above ground, one of the rarer parts. He dimly heard another announcement. It was calling him to the Test Lab. He groaned.

"Due to the high toxicity of materials routinely handled in the Black Mesa Compound, no smoking eating or drinking are permitted within the Black Mesa Transit System."

The rail collided with the earth with a dull thump, and the train moved off again. Gordon moved over and slumped on one of the seats. The train moved into a rocky tunnel and sped up.

"Please keep your limbs inside the train at all times. Do not attempt to open the doors, until the train has come to a complete halt at the station platform. In the event of an emergency, passengers are to remain seated and await further instruction."

The train had switched to overhead rails now, and down below a helicopter was landing on a helipad. A scientist and a guard jumped out. The scientist turned back to wave at the helicopter.

"If it is necessary to exit the train, disabled personnel are to be evacuated first. Please, stay away from electrified rails, and proceed to an emergency station until assistance arrives."

The train had gone into another tunnel. Gates opened up in front of it, and the train moved into one of the so-called 'airlocks'. The train started descending, until it reached one of the circular 'airlock' doors. These doors opened, and a rail slid through, allowing the train to move through. Once the train had gone through, the rail slid back, and the airlock doors closed. Gordon was now in total darkness.

Then the lights snapped on, revealing the circular passage the train was in.

In the other place, the figure started typing a new file.

_NAME_

_Gordan Freeman_

_Male, Age 27_

"A reminder that the Black Mesa Hazard Course Decathlon will commence this evening, at 1900 hours and not 1800..."

_EDUCATION_

_Ph.D., MiT, Theoretical Physics_

"...in Training Facility C."

_POSITION_

_Research Associate_

The train rounded the corner and through another airlock.

"The semi-finals for high-security personnel will be announced in a separate secure access transmission."

_ASSIGNMENT_

_Anomalous Materials Laboratory_

"Remember, more lives than your own may depend on your fitness."

_CLEARANCE_

_Level 3_

The train passed by two huge generator pillars. On a walkway below, a scientist walked up to a door, banged on it, and was pulling on the handle when the train rounded the corner.

_ADMINISTRATIVE SPONSOR_

_Classified_

"Do you have a friend or relative who would make a valuable addition to the Black Mesa team?"

_DISASTER RESPONSE PRIORITY_

_Discretionary_

"Immediate openings are available in the areas of Materials Handling and Low-Clearance Security."

The train moved into an open area. A robotic machine on four spindly looking legs carried a crate over to a pile in a corner, while a door opened and let a ground train with large crates pass in front of Gordon's train.

"Please contact Black Mesa Personnel for further information. If you have an associate with a background in the areas of Theoretical Physics..."

The barriers on the ground started to close as the ground train pulled clear.

"...Biotechnology, or other high-tech disciplines, please contact our civilian recruitment division."

An airlock door opened and the tram went through.

Gordon sighed. He'd been caught by that. He'd been wandering in the employment office, and had befriended one of the people there, Doctor Gina Cross. As it turned out, she was part of the Black Mesa team, and she'd contacted their civilian recruitment. Within days Gordon was on his way by plane to New Mexico.

The airlock shut behind him.

"The Black Mesa Research Facility is an equal opportunity employer."

Gordon told the announcement to shut up. A few seconds later the train started up again and started descending down a shaft.

"A reminder to all Black Mesa Personnel. Regular radiation and biohazard screenings are a requirement of continued employment in the Black Mesa Research Facility."

The train reached the lower level and started off again. There was one of those robots blocking the path of the train. It wasn't carrying anything this time, but there was the green glow at the far end of the chamber it was in that suggested this was where the radiation leak was. There was an odd noise, kind of like electrics, behind him. He ignored it. It was probably the robot.

"Missing a scheduled urinalysis or radiation checkup is grounds for immediate termination."

The train came to a halt to let the robot pass. Stopped opposite Gordon's train, on the Sector G line, was... it was another train. But on board it... Gordon stared. The man was tall, dressed in a blue suit and tie. A laptop lay on the seat next to him. The scientist next to him didn't even seem to notice. The man didn't seem to notice him staring, because he simply adjusted his tie and brushed dust off his suit. The words on the wall behind him announcing that it was the Sector G line, seemed to line up the 'G' right next to the man's head.

Gordon cocked his head. _G-man?_ But his thoughts were interrupted as the robot was now clear, and the train started again. The electric sound returned, and he spun around to see what it was. It had sounded close. But nothing was in the tram car with him.

"If you feel you have been exposed to radioactive or other hazardous materials in the course of your duties..."

Gordon peered out of the window at the spillage below. It was all so ironic.The train entered another tunnel, and turned a corner.

"...contact your radiation safety officer immediately. Work safe. Work _smart_. Your future depends on it."

That had something eerie to it. As if the person saying the announcement didn't think they were smart. And 'your'... creepy. His thoughts were then drowned out by the next announcement.

"Now arriving at Sector C Test Labs and Control Facilities."

Gordon stood up and looked down the walkway at another so-called airlock – but this time for walking through. A security officer looked up from a newspaper, folded it and walked down the platform.

"Please stand back from the automated door, and wait for the security officer to verify your identity. Before exiting the train, be sure to check for personal belongings. Thank you, and have a very safe and productive day."

The guard had reached the train. It was Robert. It always was.

"Good morning, Mister Freeman," he said, moving over to the door controls. Gordon rolled his eyes. He hated it when he was called 'Mister'. His title was 'Doctor'.

Robert finished tapping in the security code, and the door opened. "Looks like you're running late," he commented, checking his watch. He started off down the platform. Gordon caught him up.

"How're things in there today, Rob?" he questioned.

"Same old," Robert replied, moving for the airlock controls. "Computer crashed again."

_Oh, ye gods,_ thought Gordon. _More system crashes. Just my luck._

The airlock opened, and Gordon stepped inside. He gave Robert the thumbs up, and the doors closed behind him.

If Gordon had examined the floor lining of the Transit Car, where he had heard the noise issue from, he might have found a pair of wet spots. Some might say... footprints.

Oooh, creepy. Where have the footprints come from? And no, they weren't in the car before he got on.

High security trains are gone. The travelers are currently checked against the employee database via the tram's security camera, Transit Control, and the security guards at each stop. Obviously Robert knows Gordon's clearance, so they don't have to go through that tedious process.

In the actual Azure sheep level where the car park is featured, Guthrie's SUV is further away from the corner to the individual parking bays. I've moved it because I want to have a reference later on. Lame point for making Gordon call the Gman the Gman because of a letter G behind his head. Let's just say there was a little intervention here from the Gman in subtle ways and stuff like that. After all, he seems to know a lot about the characters... maybe he's reading their minds and chainging minor thoughts:o

I think I've managed to capture Gordon's rushing about here. I know he's roughly half an hour late for the experiment (I quote a scientist, "Weren't you supposed to be in the test chamber half an hour ago?"), and jobs probably would go on the line for that.

NEXT CHAPTER: INSECURITY


	4. Insecurity

What, no reviews? I'm hurt. No, really.

Only playing with you guys. This chapter is dedicated to my Year 6 teacher, who I know will be reading this soon enough. Miss, I hope you enjoy it.

**CHAPTER FOUR**

**INSECURITY**

As soon as Barney got off the train, it started off again. Headed for the maintenance depot in Sector E, no doubt. To the loop. As he fumbled for his ID card to get through the door, the rumbling of a train could be heard, and he turned around to see a haggard, tie-less scientist glaring at him. Barney made an impression of doing a tie up. The scientist made an impression of putting a helmet on. Barney could only hope that the scientist got pulled in for violating dress code.

He finally found his ID card, pushed it through the scanner and walked through the door... and into it. The door made a rude noise. Barney was startled. For one, he'd never broken his nose on it, and two, it normally opened. There was a fumbling noise on the other side of the door. He whacked the door, hoping to get some attention.

There came a familiar voice from the other side.

"Hold on a minute, the door's not responding to your pass ID," said the voice of Alan West, another guard. "Let me see if I can get it open on this side." There was the sound of buttons being pressed.

"How are things today, Alan?" Barney yelled through the door. It made another rude noise before Alan yelled back, "Not very good!"

The door made another rude noise. Barney whacked it for good measure.

"OK, I think I've got it..." muttered Alan. The door binged, slammed open, and quickly slammed shut again after Barney stepped through.

"Sorry about that, Calhoun," Alan said, moving over to the control panel for the doors on the other side. "We've been having problems all over the facility this morning. System crashes, security malfunctions, it's a wonder this whole place hasn't shut down yet."

"It's hardly success, is it?" murmured Barney, referring to the poster on the wall that displayed two scientists shaking hands, Alan rolled his eyes.

"Only the in the eyes of the Administrator," he commented, and the doors to Area 3 Security opened. Barney walked through, and instead of going down the stairs, walked into the refreshment area. He needed a drink. He grabbed some loose change from his pocket, put it into the machine, pressed the button for a coke, and when it didn't work, he whacked it.

Downstairs, there was quite a bit of hustle and bustle going on. But Barney had work to do, so he went to check in at the desk. The guard on duty looked up. Barney didn't recognise him.

"Nice of you to show up this morning, Calhoun," the guard said with a hint of sarcasm in his voice, logging Barney into the system. Barney was just about to say his excuse when the duty guy cut him off. "Yeah, yeah, problems with the access system. Hope you're ready for a loooong shift."

"Yes, um... ok," Barney said, somewhat at a loose end but not completely out of it. He went down the corridor to the locker room. Someone else was there tying a shoe lace and failing miserably. It was ignored.

Picking up his armor and helmet, Barney strapped them on. He still needed his sidearm. Next stop, target range. Maybe he could get a few shots in the range.

Passing through the lobby again, his ear was caught by an argument at the helpdesk. A scientist and a guard were arguing. The scientist was winning, by the sounds of it.

"I can't access my files," he was complaining, "I can't answer my mail, I haven't even been able to get _into my office!_"

"I know, sir, I know, we're doing everything we can to get the problem under control," reassured the guard. "Just give us some time to-"

"Time?!" interrupted the scientist. "I don't have any more time! If I'm not able to get my report to the administrator in the next hour, then my job will be in serious jeapordy! And I'll make sure that mine is _not _the only one."

With that, the scientist strode off toward the stairs. Barney raised his eyebrows, then walked in the opposite direction to the elevator. He was going up. On the way there, the PA bonged.

"Doctor Freeman please report to the Anomalous Materials laboratory _immediately_," it boomed. Barney pondered this as the elevator took him up a level. This Freeman guy must have really ticked off someone to make them use the announcement system.

But then he discarded that thought as the elevator made his way to the armory. Through some double doors, round a corner and down a ramp, he came face to face with another security guard. He was intently studying a book. Behind him was a rack of shotguns. Barney cleared his throat.

The guard looked up, blinked.

"How's it going?" he asked, a little blearily. He started groping for a pistol under the desk.

"Late night?" Barney suggested.

"Yeah..." the guard said, finding a pistol. "Had some beer with a few scientist pals. I woke up on the floor. Here you go, Calhoun."

Barney picked up the pistol, clicked the safety on, and glanced at the target range.

"I know you're not on the schedule for a couple more days, but if you want to squeeze off a few shots in the range there's plenty of room."

There were, in fact, two booths being used, but only one of them was being used for practicing. In the other, Otis 'Lardball' Woodrow was enjoying a box of doughnuts. Completely typical. Barney did what he'd done the last couple of times he was there, and sneaked the clips off of the wooden shelves. An extra four clips. Useful.

Back down to the lobby, Barney was just heading for the refreshments area again with the prospects of shooting the vending machine to make it work, when the guard on duty at the desk groaned loudly.

"Uh oh, now what?" he complained, tapping a few keys to bring a pager message up on his computer screen. "Looks like some people are having some problems with the main access lift in Sector G. Why don't you go over there and see what you can do?"

It took Barney a moment to realise that this last comment had been directed at him.

"Yes, sir."

Sector G was the last place he wanted to be at that point in time. Last time he was there an unstable platform had tipped him unceremoniously into the sludge of one of the canals. But orders were orders. He climbed back up to the middle level, and walked along the passage, past the exit to the Transit System to the security door to the High Energy Particle Labs. The guard on duty seemed satisfied.

"Have a good one, Calhoun."

Barney only just resisted the urge to complain to him that he would hardly have 'a good one' in Sector G. He just hoped the problem with the lift was one of those simple ones, like a blown fuse or a rewire gone wrong. He didn't want to have to stay there for very long.

He strode around the platform on the lower level of the lab. He peered over the railing. It was a long way down to the bottom. He shuddered and continued up some stairs. At the top he came across two scientists and another security guard, who were in the act of trying to fix a computer console. Barney crouched down to have a look.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" asked the guard of the scientist not under the console.

"Perhaps," came the reply. There was a moment's silence. Then, the one under the console spoke.

"All _right._"

"Yees?" questioned the standing scientist, raising an eyebrow.

The scientist under the console fiddled with something. "This should help."

There was a large rushing noise, a clang, and a few bouts of loud noises issued from the speakers.

"That doesn't sound right," commented Barney, cocking his head. The standing scientist moved forward.

"Let me help you," he offered, rubbing his nose.

"Ok..." muttered the other scientist. "If you know what you're doing..." he sounded doubtful.

"Of course..." said his companion, bending over the console in question. "Theoretically." That was worrying.

There was a few more moments as that scientist tapped in a few commands. Then he sneezed on the keyboard. An acrid smell filled the air.

"Can you smell something burning?" asked Barney, standing up.

The guard looked at him. "I couldn't really tell."

The sneezer appeared to have reached a descision. "Right. Let's try this," he said, typing in another command and pressing the enter key.

The terminal exploded. The scientist under it screamed, and everyone nearby hurried over to help. The guy under the terminal coughed. At least he was still alive. A rush to the infirmary would not help things.

"Whoa, that was close," commented the guard. It was all there was to say. The scientist under the terminal examined the wiring again.

"Oh, no..." he muttered, peering at them closely. He then ducked under the open panel and glared at his companion scientist. "Well, Stevenson? Have you any idea what to do next?"

All Dr Stevenson could do was shake his head. "I couldn't even venture a guess."

Barney stood there, watching as they started cleaning the mess up, then remembered Sector G, damn the rotten place. He jogged around the maze of platforms that made up the H-E Particle Labs, (at one point hearing another scientist who was responsible for the mess in the distance, and Dr Stevenson telling his colleague to not look at him) pushed through the double doors marked 'Transit System' and walked down the passage to the platform. A solitary scientist sat on the bench, reading today's newspaper.

He looked up as Barney approached.

"If you're waiting for a tram to Sector G," he told Barney, "then you're probably better off walking it. I overheard someone say that all the trams on this end of the facility are having... _problems._"

The way he said it made Barney shudder. Still, he had to get to the Access Lift. And if the only way there was by walking through the maintenance tunnels, then fine. But, just to check up on the guy's rumor, he grabbed the nearby service phone.

"Hello, this is Pilcher, who's calling?"

"Uhh..." started Barney, shocked that Linda would actually _let_ someone else answer her phone call. "Is Li-uh, Pritchard there?"

"She's out on call in Sector A. What is the call about?"

"I just want someone to confirm that trams on the Sector G end of the facility aren't running."

"Yep, you got that right, but I don't know how you would know, we haven't even got the information to the realtime boards yet. We've got a maintenance crew on dispatch down there, but we've lost contact due to faulty equipment."

"Ok... thank you..." Barney hung up, raised his eyebrows, shrugged, and slid down the maintenance access ladder nearby. The space under the platform had all sorts of junk in it. It was so full that he had to wade through it to get to the door. Upon pushing the door open, a small river of junk cascaded through the space. Barney was carried with it until it stopped a few feet inside the room.

_Geez,_ he thought, descending some stairs, moving forward and stepping through a door to flip a breaker on, _this whole place is going to end up smelling like Sector G. I hate Sector G. It's like the bowels of the complex. Strike that, it is the bowels of the complex._

He was now making his way through a long curved passage. A few seconds ago, he had flipped the lights on. He didn't fancy walking to Sector G in the dark. Sector G in the dark was the sort of thing to give you nightmares. He climbed up a ladder in the next room, then walked along a passage to another door.

The aforementioned door led him out onto a platform on the side of a canal. Thankfully, this was a section that had been grated, to prevent anyone from 'accidentally' falling into the canal. He pressed the button to lower the bridge across the Transit Rail.

"Button disengaged," an automated voice said. "Train approaching."

Barney stared at it. That couldn't possibly be correct. All of the trains were out, it had been confirmed. He pressed it again, just to be sure. Same result.

Then a transit car came into view. It WAS running. And it certainly wasn't a maintenance car. On board was a single, pale looking man in a suit and carrying a briefcase. He glanced at Barney before looking straight ahead of him again, as the train rounded the next corner. Now, instead of lowering the bridge, Barney grabbed the service phone. Transit Control HAD to know about this.

But he never got to find out, because the phone was dead. Completely. Not even a background tone. He slammed it down in it's holder, and turned back to the bridge. As he pressed the button, it vanished. So did the surroundings. There was an electric-sounding noise.

Then his surroundings came back to him. He was onboard a train. He instantly recognised the scientist without a tie. He was staring at something out of the window. Barney turned to look. And he was shocked. It was a bigger shock than the Sector G line running.

It was the pale man again. Same briefcase, same suit and all. On another transit car with a scientist. Still Sec G line. But it was the other end of the line. It was simply not possible for anybody to cover at least a mile in a few seconds.

"G-man?" he heard the scientist on board his train say, almost inaudibly.

Then the electric-sounding noise reappeared, and Barney found himself back by the side of the canal, next to an open bridge. Something had taken him to the other end of the facility and back again within the course of about a minute. _G-man.. ._he pondered this as he crossed, went up some more stairs and emerged from onto the platform for the Sector G access lift. Down the hall he went, and to fix the damned access elevator.

He didn't notice that he was leaving wet footprints in the carpet behind him.

* * *

Okay, so yep, the G-man's definitely involved here. Barney is the cause of the footprints. Couldn't miss the G-man's naming, could we:D

Dr Stevenson is modelled of a friend of mine from school. He is actually the sort of person who'd damage equipment like that. Be prepared for cameos by friends of mine in this story, there are a lot of them.

NEXT CHAPTER: REALTIME


	5. Realtime

Wow, that was a long dry spell. Guess I couldn't be bothered to update it.

James Besten – On their way.

Distorted Mirrors – Noted, and changed for next revision.

Spymaster E – Now that I've actually played HL2, I know that. The current upload of Insecurity is full of holes right now. I'm not going to change Black Mesa Inbound because I'm making it out that Gordon's too hung over to figure out it's Barney.

The One Free Man – Looks interesting. But Barney's parts will be an active part in the story, so they'll have to be read in the long run.

Revisions are being made, and added to the master copy of the story with all the chapters. I obviously have some bugs to flatten out of Insecurity, and a couple of spelling mistakes here and there, but other than that we're good to go.

**CHAPTER FIVE**

**REALTIME**

_LOCATION: TRANSIT SYSTEM, SECTOR E LINE_

While Barney Calhoun was having his problems with the tram door, another tram was running fine. It was running "...inbound, from Area 6 Topside Dormitories, to the Sector E Transit Control. The time is..."

By now, William Pilcher had learnt to tune these out. It helped that he had to listen to Linda when she wasn't a recording every day of the week, let alone recorded train announcements. William worked in Transit Control. In their eyes (that is, him, Linda, and the rest of the TC team) it was the best place to be, because they didn't have to do any work _as such._ They still had to report the occasional crash, and shut down the traction current where maintenance work was going on, but other than that they could pretty much relax.

Speaking of the team...

"Pilcher!" a voice boomed over the tram's announcement system, drowning out Linda's recording. This clearly wasn't one. William jumped.

"Where the hell have you been?!" it yelled at him.

William moved into range of the video camera. "Not my fault," he declared to it, crossing his arms. "The securi-"

"I don't care if the security system failed or not!" boomed the announcer.

"Brendan..."

"Oh, what the hell. You're almost there, so pick up a package the Biodome staff apparently has for us."

William raised his eyebrows, and checked his watch. "I've got to report to the security booth in _five minutes_ before they lock all other IDs out and you send me to get a package?!"

"Then hurry up then," sneered Brendan.

The train slowed down to the platform. William suddenly realized that there were scientists with a package outside the main entrance to the complex. And that was across a bridge. Crap. A bridge run. Not good.

He raced to the door of the tram, and whacked it. "Standby, standby, standby, standby..." he said to himself. The tram stopped.

"And... doors!"

The door hissed open.

"Go!"

William raced across the platform, up the stairs, across the tracks and down the other side to the complex entrance. The scientists gave him the package with a warning that it was fragile. Too bad.

He leapt aboard his train just as the door shut again. And started to move. Backwards.

"Nooo..." he moaned to himself, and flipped up the control panel at the front. He rapidly pressed the E button, for Sector E. The train stopped... slowly... and started to move off again. He checked his watch. The whole thing had taken three minutes. It took about a minute to get from here to TC... and a further minute to get to security. By then it would be too late. He'd have to take a shortcut.

"Whoever's watching the cams right now;" he declared to the camera, "I'm leaving the package on board. I've got an officer to catch."

Then the train emerged into Silo F. This was where the Sector A, D, E, and F lines converged. But right now, William didn't have time to go into details, because the door was opening. He raced out of it, along the platform, towards the stairs. No time to take the lift.

Upstairs, he took his chance. Instead of taking the long way around, he kicked out the vent near the floor, and started crawling through that. A mere moments later (which would have taken him 20 seconds round the long way) he was running out into the cafeteria. He decided to skip the lift. It was going down, and there wasn't much time.

He landed upon the tiling with a thump. His leg now hurt like anything, but he needed to get to the security booth. A nearby scientist rushed for one of the emergency medkits hanging on the wall, having been one of the few that actually witnessed him vault over the railing and drop, but William was already gone through the security door. The barrier on the ID recognition booth was closing. He thrust his hand with ID card underneath it. The barrier paused.

"William Pilcher, huh?" came a skeptical sounding voice from the other side. "Looks like you're running late."

"Yeah..." panted William, out of breath.

"Looks like you got here just in time."

"Yeah..." repeated William, leaning his head against the wall. The scientist from earlier appeared behind him, and attempted to treat his leg using the medkit. William glared down at him, then turned back to accept his ID back. Then he turned to face the opposite wall, and sunk down until he was sitting. The scientist smiled, because he was now easier to treat.

Then a figure appeared in the doorway to the cafeteria. William gave it a cursory glance.

"Titch?" it asked, cocking its head.

William's head shot round, and gave the figure a closer look.

"Just don't try that again, Ok?"

"Yeah, sure, Linda..."

"I don't want my staff getting dragged off to the infirmary because they took a daredevil leap off of the cafeteria balcony."

Typical Linda Pritchard.

"Any problems?" asked William, watching the scientist bandage his leg.

"We've got a crash near Sector D..." remembered Linda, ticking it off on her fingers. "We've got a door jam on the Sector B line, and a suspected signal failure at Hazard Junction, which is delaying the Decathlon by another hour. Plus a number of reported stuck trains."

William groaned. "Not again... I thought we fixed those signals?"

Linda shook her head. "Apparently not. Everything's going... weird this morning. I can't tell what it is."

Five minutes later, they were stood in the Transit Control booth, looking out the glass that faced Transit Junction. Trains were moving regularly, as expected. It was impressive, by all standards.

"Uhh... ma'am?" asked a voice from behind them. It came from Travis O'Connor, reportedly the youngest person in Black Mesa, only 19, sitting at his station, staring at something. "I think you'd better take a look at this."

Linda jogged over. The screen displayed all locations where traction current, the power in the rails, was running. The Sector G line was running dark. In other words, it wasn't running at all.

"You've _got _to be joking..." she moaned.

"Nope..." Travis' worried face looked back at the screen. "It just suddenly... snapped off. We've no maintenance teams down there or anything."

Linda grabbed the red phone from it's hook. "We do now," she said, determined, and dispatched a maintenance unit to the Sector G line. She then grabbed her 'work hat'.

"W-where are you going?" asked William, watching her head for the door.

"I'm going to look at these signals. Wish me luck."

"But who's going to run the-"

"I'm sure you're perfectly capable, Titch."

"Bu-"

But Linda was already gone. William peered out the window and saw her descend to a train waiting on the Sector A line platform. A couple of engineers were waiting there already. William sat down in Linda's chair.

"She won't like that," Travis told him. William ignored him, and started spinning idly on the chair.

"Well, lookie who managed to make it in. _And _he's sitting in the boss-woman's chair."

William and Travis spun around.

"Brendan Waters. How nice of you to drop in," William said dryly. Brendan laughed.

"And he's even _talking _like the boss-woman!"

"C'mon, Brendan, you know she doesn't like being called that..." said Travis cautiously.

The phone rang. He looked at William, then the phone, then back at William. There was a brief standoff between him and Brendan going on, but William then picked up the phone slowly.

"Hello, this is Pilcher, who's calling?"

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the line. He raised his eyebrows. Then a voice spoke through the phone.

"Is Li-uhh, Pritchard there?"

Now Brendan raised his eyebrows, and chuckled to himself.

Still looking at the others, William said, "She's out on call in Sector A. What is the call about?"

"I just want someone to confirm that trams on the Sector G end of the facility aren't running."

William glanced at Travis, who nodded. "Yep, you got that right, but I don't know how you would know, we haven't even got the information to the realtime boards yet." This was accompanied by a look at Travis, then a head nod towards the realtime updater computer. Travis got the hint and got up to update it. "We've got a maintenance crew on dispatch down there, but we've lost contact due to faulty equipment."

Moment of silence.

"Ok... thank you..."

The caller hung up. William returned to glaring at Brendan. The rest of the Control Team bustled around them, unawares. Travis was busy updating the realtime travel information board, but there were still occasional glances. The phone rang again. Without taking his eyes off Brendan, William picked it up again.

"Hello, this is Pilcher, who's calling?"

"Titch, there's no need to sound so official. It's only temporary."

Brendan snorted.

"And it ends right now."

This brought out a bit of shock. William was stunned that he didn't even get to sit down for ten minutes.

"I need you, Travis, David and Lucy down here _now._ Tell Dennis to take the seat, but warn him not to do any animal impressions to try and scare people again," Linda informed them. "I've got a spare tram coming around from Area 10. It's just finished the Sector C line."

"Got it," answered William, put down the phone, and stood up. He ignored Brendan, grabbed Travis's shirt and dragged him across the room to the exit. Glancing around the room for Dennis, he picked up the intercom phone that had speakers both in that room and in the cafeteria.

"Attention, please," he said into it. The room went silent. "David Jordan and Lucy Hills, please report to the Sector A northbound platform within the next two minutes. Dennis Miller, please report to Central Transit Control immediately."

A few moments later, the door slid open, and Dennis strolled through.

"You rang?" he said in a false posh voice.

"Give it a break Dennis, Linda wants you on phone duty. And she knows about the animal noises."

Dennis paled, and dropped the posh voice. "She knows?!"

Travis nodded. "She must've heard you. When you were doing it to that poor official who wanted to know why his train was stuck."

Dennis gulped and started powerwalking towards the seat. William raised his eyebrows and opened the door. A minute or so later, they were on their way down the elevator to the Sector A northbound platform. David and Lucy were there already. The train, however, wasn't.

William was just opening his mouth to comment on this when the train appeared from the southbound tunnel. It slowed, stopped, and the door hissed open. The first thing he noticed on the way in was the discolouration of the carpet where it had clearly gotten wet.

"There's someone out there who took a drink onto the transit system," he stated, as the door closed. "There's someone out there who's going to get blown up sometime in the future when their drink short-circuits the train."

The train proceeded into the darkness of the westbound tunnel.

* * *

Ooh, unknown territory. I'm sure I've painted a pretty clear picture of Transit Control and Silo H, though.

William Pilcher is a friend I refer to as 'The Chair'. He requested he be in this story.

On another note, keep an eye on my profile. It currently shows the progress of the "restoration" of Black Mesa. Those Phases will change over time as I write more, so watch it. Also, re: Bonus Chapters – These are chapters that either tell of others in Black Mesa or are humour related. First two bonuses are those respectively.

We've almost reached the Zero Hour of Anomalous Materials. This means...

NEXT CHAPTER: ANOMALOUS MATERIALS


	6. Anomalous Materials

What, no reviews? I'm hurt. No, really.

Ok, fair enough, it's been ages since I last updated this story. And it's about time I did, too. We've arrived at the zero hour, the big moment.

* * *

**CHAPTER SIX**

**ANOMALOUS MATERIALS**

LOCATION: SECTOR C TEST LABS

There was a clang as the far side of the airlock started opening. Gordon checked his watch. That made it about a minute. They were slowing down. He strolled out into the Anomalous Materials lobby, up to the desk. A scientist was peering at the duty guard's computer screen.

"Good morning, Mister Freeman," the guard greeted him. "I had a bunch of messages for you, but we had a system crash, what, 20 minutes ago?"

Gordon nodded. It wasn't unusual. At least he wouldn't have to spend ages catching up on each of them before he got to the Test Chamber. Most likely they were spam messages and analysis reports that he never read anyway. No loss.

"Anyway," continued the guard, "I'm still trying to find my files. Just one of those days, I guess. They were having some problems down in the Test Chamber, too, but I think that's all straightened out."

"Do you know what went wrong down there?" Gordon asked him.

"I think it was something to do with getting the Anti-Mass Spectrometer to 100 plus percent."

Gordon started. This was new on him.

"They told me that you were to head down there as soon as you got into your Hazard Suit."

Gordon headed for the personnel facilities, feeling glad. The problems with the A-M S must have delayed them finding someone else. That meant his routine was back on track.

Around the corner, he was stopped by another scientist, carrying a large box of papers.

"Ah, hello, Gordon Freeman, it's good to see you," he greeted. "Could you possibly take this over to Development? There's some guard round there who won't let me in there."

Gordon took the box, and the scientist went into the nearby databank room. As soon as the door closed, he heard a chuckling. Gordon thought about this. Then he twigged. He'd been conned.

_Damn._

He carried the box around the next corner to Development anyway. Up the ramp, around the...

His attention snapped back to the office on the far side of the corridor. Clearly, through the glass, he could see the two occupants of the train from earlier. Now arguing. Gordon narrowed his eyes. That wasn't possible. Their train had been headed in the opposite direction, and the Sector G line came only as close to Sector C as their train had been earlier. There was just no way that...

He whacked into another scientist and fell to the floor. Papers flew everywhere. Both the men sat there for a moment dazed, then apologized to each other simultaneously and started clearing up the papers. Gordon glanced back at the office, and the 'G-man' looked at him. Everything seemed to freeze for a moment.

Then, the 'G-man' frowned, and turned back to his argument. By now, the papers were all cleared up. The other scientist offered to take them into the other Dev office for him. Gordon gladly accepted. He was already late. He backtracked, and walked around a few more corridors to the locker room.

As the door opened, another scientist was just finishing tieing his shoelaces. As Gordon headed for the HEV suit storage bank, the scientist fiddled with his tie and complained loudly. "Why do we all have to wear these _ridiculous_ ties?"

Gordon sighed and pressed the button to gain access to the last HEV suit. The other two had been taken, presumably, by Doctors Collette Green and... Gina Cross. The roster on the wall reported them to have both taken out suits for 'maintenance work in Test Lab 33/A'. That would mean they would be below him during the experiment.

He quickly stripped down to his underwear and slid into the suit. He'd commented on the fact that it made anyone wearing it look like a robot. All limbs went into their right holes, then Gordon flipped up the HEV eyepiece, and plugged the earpiece in.

"Welcome..." said the HEV suit's recorded system, "...to the HEV Mark 4 protective system. For use in Hazardous Environment Conditions."

Gordon bundled his clothes into his locker. He then remembered that his locker key was in his shirt pocket. A search through the bundle revealed it stuck to a piece of chewing gum. That went in the bin. After a few moments of struggling to get the key to turn in the lock, he gave up. Noone was going to steal anything, anyway.

Another few moments later, he was jogging down the corridor towards the elevator, ignoring the suit's diagnostical checks coming from the earpiece. He put his fingers in his mouth and whistled loudly to signal the guard to open the door early. He didn't. The door was still closed.

"Go right on through, sir," said the guard, only just starting to move to the retinal scanner. "Looks like you're in the barrel today."

Gordon nodded, and willed the doors to open faster. They didn't. They opened at their usual speed. And he had another pair to go. Those went at the same speed, slowing Gordon down even more. As soon as he was through those, he sprinted for the elevator. Punching the call button, he dashed into the elevator and slammed the down button. The elevator started to descend. Slowly.

About halfway down, Gordon had had enough. He leapt from the elevator to the service ladder, and slid down that. His boots hit the platform with a clang, and the doors triggered like they should do. At least these ones went faster. He dashed past another couple of scientists, through more doors, skirted around a repair man who was wedging a panel open with a crowbar, narrowly avoided knocking some more scientists over, and DID knock a security guard over.

One of the scientists checked his watch. "Was that the late 8:30 Gordon Freeman to the Test Lab?"

Another gave him a look. "Why are you asking me?"

Gordon burst through the door into the control room, panting heavily. The assembly of three scientists, minus the one monitoring a computer bank, turned to look at him.

"Ah, Gordon, there you are. You're late," stated Issac Kleiner, putting his hands onto his hips. Gordon could only nod and catch his breath back.

"Tch. Anyway, we've just sent the sample down to the test chamber."

Gordon looked up. They'd only just delivered it? Him being late was starting to not look so bad.

James Marten spoke next. "We had to take some time to boost the Anti-Mass Spectrometer to 105 percent."

Gordon considered this. So it was true. "Isn't that risky?"

"Yes," James agreed, "it's a bit of a gamble, but we need the extra resolution."

"The administrator is _very _concerned that we get a conclusive analysis of today's sample," Felix Kimber pointed out. "He doesn't usually take this much of an interest, but he seems to do with this one. I gather they went to some lengths to get it. This is top security stuff, Gordon."

The scientist monitoring the computer banks called James over. He started walking to it, then stopped, and whispered something to Issac. Issac nodded slowly, and turned to Gordon.

"They're waiting for you, Gordon... in the test chamber," he said, drawing out the 'r' in chamber, before walking over to the exit on the other side of the room. He bent down, put his eyes up to the retinal scanner, and activated it. The door slid open with a whoosh, and Gordon walked through. He then wiped his forehead. He was lucky. Very lucky. Lucky to still have a job. If they'd finished calibrating the Anti-Mass Spectrometer earlier, and delivered the sample earlier, then he might as well have lost his job right then and there. But they didn't, and he didn't, so it was all right.

He continued walking down the corridor, past some observation tanks, to the Test Lab Rotary Lift. He was almost there, passing some scientists, when a console on the other side of the room exploded.

"It's about to go critical!" one of the scientists screamed, then all three of them, Gordon and the scientists, raced over there to examine it. If the equipment failed then Gordon's Ph.D wouldn't be a lot of good to him anymore.

"What the hell is going on with our equipment?" the other scientist, Doctor Eli Vance, questioned nobody in particular. The first scientist, next to him, bent down to examine a fuse box.

"You do know," he said, peering at the fuses, "that it wasn't meant to do this in the first place, right?"

Eli shook his head. "Let's just hope it can withstand the experiment."

Gordon, now unnerved, slipped away back to the TLRL, and punched the button. It appeared out of the hole in the floor of the next chamber like something from a videogame he'd played a few days ago. He'd commented on the similarity at that point. What was it called? Riven? He stepped into the lift. Going down.

On the lower level, he walked around a corner into the large passage leading to the test chamber, then along the corridor's curve. He was now minutes away from the experiment. He just had to hope that the equipment did hold out. The door to the test lab's antechamber opened in front of him, He stepped through, and it slammed behind him. He didn't know it yet, but it would be the last time he saw it like that. There were two scientists waiting for him in the antechamber. One, Doctor Stuart Mandon, spoke up.

"I'm afraid we'll be deviating a bit from standard analysis procedures today, Gordon," he informed. Gordon rolled his eyes.

"This is to do with the 'rare' sample, and the AMS boost to 105, isn't it?" he asked, folding his arms. "Don't tell me. I've got to be extra careful not to dislodge the sample, and to keep to instruction at all times."

"Yes..." spoke up the other scientist, Dr Joshua Yates, "but with _good reason!_ This is a rare opportunity for us. This sample is high quality. It's the purest one we've seen yet."

"And," objected Stuart, "potentially, the most unstable."

Gordon sighed, put his hand on his head, and shook the latter. They did this every time. Arguing about experiment conditions. There hadn't been a time when they didn't do it. They had supposedly been doing it since Stuart was transferred over from Sector F. And it always ended the same way, in them finally agreeing on the point they were arguing over.

"Now, now, if you follow standard insertion procedures, everything will be fine," reassured Joshua. Gordon thought about this.

"So, should I just do what I always do?" asked Gordon, starting to get confused. Now it was Joshua's turn to sigh.

"Just listen to the announcements. They know what they're doing, if none of us do. They're the ones who make the experiment run smoothly," he explained.

"I don't know how you can say that," disagreed Stuart, "but I will admit that the possibility of a Resonance Cascade Scenario is extremely unlike-"

Joshua interrupted. "Gordon doesn't need to hear all of this."

They both glanced at Gordon, who was sitting against the wall fiddling with his HUD settings. So far, he'd managed to turn the display vomit green, and change the language to Japanese. Still looking at him, Joshua continued, "He's a highly trained professional."

"Are you two getting to the point now or should I just continue to change the settings on this thing?" Gordon asked, looking up, completely oblivious to what had just been said. Joshua took this chance, and whispered into Stuart's ear. "Besides, we've assured the administrator that _nothing will go wrong,_" he hissed, glancing at Gordon.

"Ah, yes, you're right," said Stuart loudly, to attract Gordon's attention away from the HUD. "Gordon, we have complete confidence in you."

Finally. Gordon stood up. He also triggered the reset button on his HUD, changing the colour back to orange and the language back to English-American.

"Well, now," said Joshua. "Let's let him in now."

"Yes," agreed Gordon, "let's. Let's let Gordon in so he can do the experiment instead of listening to you two yammering away."

The two retinal scanners on either side of the room beeped as they recognized the retinæ of Dr Mandon and Dr Yates. The giant door hissed, then rumbled open, revealing the pride and joy of the Anomalous Materials department. The Anti-Mass Spectrometer.

While the door rumbled back behind Gordon, there was a high-pitched whistling. He covered his ears. It got him every time. Every time the announcement system did this, and every time he forgot to cover his ears before it happened. After a moment, he tested and released one hand.

"Testing, testing!" came Issac's voice through the PA. He coughed. "Everything seems to be in order."

At times like these, Gordon wished there was a way to talk back to them. Yelling up to the control room window did not do wonders for a person's voice, and the experimental message delivery system complete with drive chain and buckets broke before it was even implemented.

"All right, Gordon," announced Felix, "your suit should keep you comfortable through all this, and the specimen should be delivered to you in a few moments. If you would be so good as to climb up to the balcony, and start the rotors..."

Gordon was already on his way up. The monitor the fourth scientist had been staring at in the control room when Gordon had left had been the rotor control system. Looks like he'd have to do it manually.

"...we can bring the Anti-Mass Spectrometer to 80 percent and hold it there, until the carrier arrives."

He sat down on the metal seat, and started typing away at the keyboard. The rotor software was already running, at least he wouldn't have to try and remember the password for the security blockout. He typed a few commands in, and the rotors of the A-MS in the centre of the cylindrical room started to spin. Now James's voice came over the intercom.

"Very good. We'll take it from here."

Gordon slid back down the ladder to the other computer, Typing a few more commands in, he brought up an overview of what they were doing in the control room. A command was entered.

"Power to Stage 1 emitters... building... and activating... _now,_" said Issac.

In the centre of the room, a single beam focused itself from the emitter just below the rotors to a point in the centre of the Spectrometer.

"I'm seeing predictable phase arrays," Issac continued.

"Gordon," came James's voice, "could you take a look at the phase lights and tell us whether Stage Two is available for deployment? Ours are broken. Again."

Then, quieter, perhaps to somebody else, he said, "Did they actually fix them last time, or tinker about with the settings and tell us they'd fixed it?"

The phase lights were situated on a panel on the floor-level podium that encompassed the focal point for the emitter. Gordon jumped off the seat and went over to check it. As he got close, Felix's voice came over the intercom.

"What is he doing in there? Tell him to stand away from the podium, that suit won't do him any good if he wanders into the beam."

Gordon rolled his eyes, then checked the panel. The upper light was yellow, because Stage One was active, but Stage Two's light was red... no it wasn't, it was green now. Above him, the three secondary emitters started to rotate around the central primary emitter. He turned to the control room window, and could just about make out James looking at him. Gordon gave him the thumbs up. James turned around.

"Stage Two emitters... activating... _now,_" Issac announced. The Stage Two beams focused themselves on the point where the primary beam struck. Gordon put his goggles on. It was going to get really bright in here, and it wouldn't do AM any good if his retinæ were burnt out.

"Overhead capacitors to... one, oh, and five percent," said James.

"Uhh..." started Felix, "It's probably not a problem... probably, but I'm seeing a small discrepancy in... no, it's well within acceptable boundaries again. Sustaining sequence."

This didn't sound good. Last time one of the team had sounded unsure about something the sample had blown up in their faces, and they only just had enough time to shut it down. Across the room, the four lights on the upper corners of a rectangular area grated off started to flash red.

"Ah, here we go," James reported. "I've just been informed that the sample is ready, Gordon, it should be making it's way up to you any moment now. Look to the delivery system for your specimen."

He hadn't actually needed to say that last sentence, because Gordon was already there. Unless the sample was in the room already, which it wasn't, the delivery system was the only way it could get in. The metal cover over the carrier's elevator slid away, and the carrier itself arrived level with the podium's entrance ramp with a thunk. The barriers then slid away. The sample was a beautiful yellow crystal. Sometimes he wondered where they got the samples, but that was level 9 clearance bounds only. He grasped the handles of the sample's mount.

_About two minutes previously_

Barney strolled toward the Sector G elevator. There was no need for him to hurry, especially where Sector G was concerned, but apparently the scientists in the elevator had other ideas.

"It's about time!" exclaimed one of them, folding his arms. "We don't pay you people to mosey about at your own convenience. Make this thing _work _so we can get on with this miserable day."

Scientists. Not one bit of gratitude among them. Barney bent down to inspect the elevator's control panel. He flipped it open, revealing a mess of wires, one of which had been severed. Good. Something simple. He retrieved a roll of electrical tape from his toolbox, put on some rubber gloves and carefully wrapped the tape around the broken ends of the wire. A light above them flickered on.

"There we go," he said, brushing his hands together, then packing away the tape and gloves. He then turned to walk out of the elevator, and the doors closed in his face. Of course. Now that the wiring was repaired, it would go to wherever it had last been told.

"At last..." sighed the other scientist.

_In Sector A..._

"So, Linda..." William asked through his BM cellphone, "Have you got those signals working yet?"

"Of course not. How long do you think this takes? I need Lucy's signal know-how and David's grasp of wiring diagrams. Travis can keep an eye out for other trains from Facility A, and you..." Linda faltered a bit, then recovered her composure. "You can run the Hazard Course again, because Dr Hunt has just informed me that you haven't taken it for a few months."

Lucy sniggered. William threw her a withering look.

"Have they updated it since then?"

"Yes, William. Three times."

"So what's new then?"

"Am I really going to tell you?"

"Never mind... I'm hanging up now, see you in a minute."

William canceled the call, then looked at the others. Lucy was still sniggering, David was stifling a laugh, and Travis had a sock jammed in his mouth. William pulled it out.

"Geez, anyone'd think you lot weren't as old as you are," he muttered, turning around to face the front of the train.

_Back in Sector C, meanwhile..._

Gordon grasped the handles of the sample's mount, and began pushing it towards the focal beam. _Come on, Collette, don't fail me now... _he thought. If Collette had mounted the sample incorrectly, the analysis would be ruined, and probably the sample would be too. That had happened once, apparently, when he wasn't on the job. Oh well. _Here goes nothing..._

He pushed the sample into the analysis beam.

And all hell broke loose.

_Sector G Main Access Lift_

The elevator jerked to a stop just past level 3. The PA bonged. "Warning, main power failure on levels three, five and eight."

The scientist who'd rebuked Barney earlier groaned. "Oh, no... It's probably those Anomalous Materials people again," he explained. "Always pushing their equipment too hard, dabbling in who knows what, I'd be surprised if there's one good brain among them."

Some lights flashed, and the emergency backup power kicked in. The elevator descended again. Then it jerked to a stop again. "Warning, extreme electromagnetic hazard in Sector C," reported the PA.

"What did I tell you?" the scientist remarked. Sector C is Anoma-"

The light next him exploded. The other scientist screamed as the talker slumped over forwards.

_Anomalous Materials Laboratory_

There didn't seem to be a good brain amongst the team now, as the unhealthy green light beams shot out randomly around the test chamber. Gordon leapt for the sample carrier's handles again, but the carrier would not move. It was as if the focal point of the analysis beams was locking it in place!

"Gordon!" yelled Issac, over the chaos. "Get away from the beam!"

Over this, the PA bonged. "Warning, main power failure on levels 3, 5 and 8."

Gordon scrambled for the platform on the other side of the room. Behind him, the massive pillars that prevented the beams from meeting in an emergency slid into place. "Shutting down..." informed James.

Or at least, they were supposed to stop the beams. They somehow continued to run, and the green beams continued to shoot out all over the lab, causing explosions.

James sounded terrified now. "Attempting to shut down... it's not... it's not shutting down, it's not... it's not..."

A beam struck the control room window. Gordon could hear the screams inside without the aid of the PA as the control room exploded. He just crouched in the corner and waited for his turn. The number of green beams was increasing, and now when they struck walls, objects were appearing, and vanishing again once they reached the floor. Then, strange... 'bubbles' of light appeared around the sample, and started moving towards it. Gordon curled up in a ball, and waited.

"Warning, extreme electromagnetic hazard in Sector C."

The room flashed, and it went dark.

_Sector A Transit Tunnel_

The train jerked to a halt, throwing everyone to the floor. The lights flicked once, and shattered. It was dark. There was a brief green flash, and some sort of electrical sounding noise. The PA bonged.

"Warning," it intoned, "main power failure on levels 3, 5 and 8."

"Is everyone ok?" asked William, feeling around him. He stepped on something squishy. He looked down, but of course, it was too dark to see anything. He called out.

"Who did I just step on?"

"I'm over here," Travis whimpered from the far corner.

"And I'm under this seat," Lucy commented. "David?"

A moment of silence.

"Please don't say I just stepped on David," William moaned.

"Then don't say it," came David's voice. "I could actually do with some help here..."

"If none of you are here, who did I step on?"

The exterior tunnel lights snapped back on. On the floor, with a boot mark in it, was... was...

Travis turned around and puked out of the back of the train. Lucy rolled out from under the seat and stood up.

Amidst all this, the PA bonged again. "Warning, extreme electromagnetic hazard in Sector C."

It was some sort of crab creature, but not like any seen on Earth. Yellow blood was seeping out of a corner of it. Lucy and William backed away. Travis was still vomiting, and David... David was hanging onto the lip of one of the windows. From the outside.

Lucy spun around and grabbed his arm. She managed to pull him halfway in when there was another electric sounding noise, and another crab creature appeared on David's back. It seemed to regard Lucy for a moment before throwing itself at her face. She screamed, and flailed her arms.

David crawled forward and toppled into the train, catching the crab creature with his boot. It was dislodged from Lucy's face with a slight ripping sound, and it flew back onto one of the seats with a cry, kind of like a bird's. William decided that if it was going to try and latch itself to any of his team, it could think again. He kicked it out of the window.

Lucy was still screaming. She had a gash in her cheek, and David was trying to patch it up with the emergency medical kit he'd grabbed from under another seat when he was on the floor.

"What..." questioned William, peering out of the window the crab had flown out of, "the hell... was that?"

Lucy was hysterical. "It... it... it was digging into me! I felt it... _inside me_!" she screamed. Travis turned around. His face was green.

"I don't feel too good..." he complained, before seeing Lucy's face and spinning back round again.

There was a loud _thunk_, and the sound of electrical sparks from the rail below them. William looked down, and flexed his fingers into a fist and back. "Just... how stable... are these rails?" he asked slowly. David looked up on the verge of answering.

A moment later he was answered instead by a nearby explosion, the track beneath them gave way and the train plummeted to the floor of the tunnel. Everyone screamed.

_Sector G Main Access Lift_

"My goodness!" the lone scientist left with Barney cried, and went to examine his companion's body. It was lying under a piece of metal, and didn't look any more alive than the dummies in the radioactivity hazard training programme Barney had been through before taking up this post.

The elevator dropped next to a service window and jammed again. Outside, he could see a scientist in a storage room, and a portion of the old rail system. They were deep.

Green flashes, green balls, were appearing and disappearing all over the place. With electric sounding noises, identical to the ones he'd heard earlier concerning what Gordon had called the 'G-man'. A scientist ran out from a doorway on a lower level. He appeared to be running away from something. What from became apparent quickly.

Chasing the scientist were strange... dog-like creatures. With three legs. And some sort of compound eye instead of two normal ones. They chased the scientist to a place out of Barney's viewpoint. Behind them, another security guard emerged, firing at them.

Another electric sounding noise, and nearby in the storage room, another creature appeared, but Barney only had a quick glimpse before it started chasing the scientist out of the room.

"HEEEY!"

He and the scientist with him watched as the other security guard turned to the transit rail and waved his arms frantically... before diving out of the way as another security guard on an out-of-control train smashed through the barrier blocking it, and hit the buffers at the end of its track. It catapulted a barrel through one of the storage room's windows. It then exploded.

Another explosion ripped out of the next window. Barney realized that the fourth window was close enough to the elevator to...

"Grab onto something!" he barked at the scientist, who obeyed and grabbed onto one of the side rails. The next window exploded. Barney braced himself against the doors of the elevator, closed his eyes, and awaited his fate. The final window exploded. There was a creaking noise, and the sound of thick cable unraveling.

_SNAP!_

The elevator plummeted to the bottom of the complex.

_Somewhere, meanwhile..._

Gordon opened his eyes. Completely black. He was dead. And he'd been looking forward to the rest of his day. Especially lunch. Oh well. He uncurled from his ball (odd that he was still in it) and walked forward. He could hear his own breathing, too. Extremely odd. It was as if...

FLASH!

The surrounding blackness flashed green, and instantly became replaced with the Test Chamber once more. So he wasn't dead. But the sample was now glowing green, and-

FLASH!

He wasn't in the test chamber anymore. Gordon spun around, and around, and around again. He was in some... place... alien place. He then spotted what was in front of him, and jumped back. Some... thing... things... were in front of him. They didn't look anything like he'd ever seen before... It had the hind legs of some hooved animal, a thick, yellow-gungy body, and red tentacles. It had no front legs. Gordon did the only thing he could think of. He screamed. The tentacle-thing looked up...

FLASH!

And he wasn't in the alien place anymore. Now, he was in some sort of spotlight... in front of four more creatures. They each had a single, red eye, a sickly brown body, and two small appendages sticking out of what in humans would be the waist area. Unlike the creature he'd seen a few seconds previously, they had forearms. They appeared to be regarding him with a lot of interest.

Gordon backed away, having finished his scream, holding his hands in front of him. Why couldn't he have died?

FLASH!

All went black again.

* * *

Whoo! We've made it this far, let's not give up now.

There are revisions waiting for earlier chapters:

Insecurity: The sequence with Gordon has been modified so that Barney recognises Gordon. In a lame attempt to prevent from doing any changes to Black Mesa Inbound, I've made it so that Gordon is too hung over to recognise Barney. Also, conversations with the Security Guard at the desk have changed.

Everywhere else: Minor revisions.

NEXT CHAPTER: BONUS!: LAST TIME GONE


End file.
